Prime Minister Tony Abbott during a press conference at the conclusion of the G20 leader's summit. Photo: Andrew Meares

The plan includes an aim of helping put an extra 100 million women into the worldwide workforce, narrowing the gender participation gap by a quarter by 2025. They call it "25 by 25".

None of this is guaranteed and Abbott was careful to add the key caveat "if fully implemented". Still, it's as good as it gets for global summitry.

But the achievement was almost buried under a towering international indignation at Abbott's suspected climate change denialism.

"He throws in a boast that his government repealed the country's carbon tax, standing out among Western nations as the one willing to reverse progress on climate change," commented a Los Angeles Times journalist, Robyn Dixon, "just days after the United States and China reached a landmark climate change deal."

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Australia, she wrote before the summit's end, looked like an "adolescent country".

On the summit's final morning the Treasurer, Joe Hockey, appeared to disparage Barack Obama's plan to cut carbon emissions by saying that he "hasn't had great success" to date.

Even members of Abbott's own government were agog at the gratuitous display of political curmudgeonliness to a visiting US president: "Of course, it's hard for many of us to live up to Joe's triumphant career," mocked one.

But at the very last moment, the summit's closing press conference, the prime minister uttered the words "all of us support strong and effective action on climate change".

All 20 governments would work "constructively" towards a successful outcome at the Paris climate change conference late next year.

He reminded the world media that Australia was committed to a 5 per cent cut to carbon emissions by 2020 compared to 2000 levels. This was a 19 per cent cut to "business as usual" levels.

Australia, he said, was "cracking on with the job".

The indignation evaporated. The frustration faded. These were not the words of a climate change denier.

If only Abbott had spoken them a week earlier he would have spared the world a faux argument and saved himself a headline-dominating distraction.

The Brisbane summit accomplished some diplomatic tasks. The Western leaders rebuked Russia's Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine and demanded he observe a ceasefire or face more economic sanctions.

And some important economic ones.

The Brisbane growth plan included commitments by member countries to implement 800 specific measures to generate $2 trillion in extra global GDP over five years and millions of jobs.

The only tool of enforcement, however, is regular updates and moral suasion.

Abbott said that the summit communique had included a section on climate change from its very first draft, months ago. If only he'd said so. Then the international debate could have focused on the real agenda rather than a faux one.